Demountable support for garments and the like



April 27, 1948. E. s. EAKIN ETAL 2,440,631

DEMOUNTABLE SUPPORT FOR GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed June 17; 19'44 7 l4 INVENTOR [DA/4 J/M/T H fflK/IV 1 WILLA/20 7. EAK/N fel ,e a

" ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 27 1948 DEMOUNTABLEQSUPPORT FOR GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Edna Smith Eakin and Willard i). Eakin,

I Akron, Ohio.

iterates June 17, 1944, serial No. 540,762

. 1 This invention relates for garments and the like.

Its chief objects are to provide a device-of this character adapted for quick and easy assembly and disassembly; to provide a device which in its disassembled condition will require but little space or S e or for shipment; to provide a device having good strength and stability when assembled; and to provide simplicity of construction and economy of manufacture.

A more specific object is to provide a takeapart rack for coats and hats such as to be suitable for intermittent use in homes, so that it will be unnecessary to employ the common expedient of stacking the guests coats and hats on beds, with its objectionable results such as crumpling of thebed and the articles stacked upon itand the transfer of lint from the bed-spread to the clothing.

A further object is to provide an assembly consisting of few and simple parts but adapted for various uses.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig-1 is an elevation, withparts sectioned'and with parts broken away, of a coat and hat rack embodying our invention in its preferred form.

Fig. 2 isa section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of a pair offoot members such, as are employed in the assembly shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 3a is an elevation of the other foot member of said pair.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation, with a part sectioned and broken away, of a member that is shown in Fig. 1 and additional parts associated with it, illustrating an alternative manner of use.

Referring to the drawings, the assembly shown in Figs. 1 to 4 comprises a pair of simple standards l0, l preferably pipes for lightness, each of which is formed with four slots II, II (Fig. 4)

- which are of equal length and are equally spaced circumferentially of the pipe and extend lengthwise of the pipe from its lower end face.

Similar slots I2, 12 can be formed in the upper ends of the pipes ID for use of the pipes individually as illustrated in Fig. 5, but the slots l2 have no functional importance when the pipes are used in the assembly shown in Fig. 1.

The slots ll of each pipe In (Fig. 4) are adapted to receive a pair of foot members [3, Id. The foot members preferably are of stamped sheetmetal, or of other sheet material. As shown in Fig. 3 the member I3 is formed at its middle with a slot I extending upward from its lower edge "2 Claims. (01. 211 177) to demountable supports 1 and the member I4 is formed at its middle with a slot 16 extending downward from its upper edge, each'slot being of such width as to receive the sheet material of the other foot member with preferably a fairly snug fit, although this is not essential, and the two feet members, by reason of the slots l5, J6, are adapted to be mated, in the slots ll of the post Ill, with their upper edges fiush with each other and with their lower edges fiush with each other, their relationship then being as shown in Fig. 1.

The weight of the pipe Ill is sufficient provision for keepingthe pipe and its two foot members in assembled relation while they are in use, but to assure that the .feet will be lifted when the pipe is lifted, and to protect the fingers'of pipe" metal, betweentheslots I I, from excessive prying strain, the lowerpends of those fingers can be joined with each other, as by threading the lower end of the pipe,preferably before the slots l l are cut, maleing the slots ll of such length that the finger portions of the pipe will extend below the lower edges of the foot members l3, l4, and applying a washer l1 and a nut l8 to the threaded portion of the pipe. 7 T

The construction as described is such that the pipe-margins which define the slots II have a bearing against each of the foot members l3, Hi all of the way from the upper margins torthe lower margins of the latter, so that a st-rongjoint is provided.

Each assembly consisting of one of the pipes in and its foot structure is adapted to stand alone with good stability, whichcan be increased, if desired, by making the foot members l3, ll of heavier metal than the aluminum alloy which preferably is used for the pipes H] and other parts, or by otherwise weighting the base structure.

The assembly shown in Fig. 1 comprises also a bridge structure here shown at a hat tray l9, referably formed of sheet-metal and having an upturned marginal fi-ange 2|] (Fig. 2) at each of its length-wise margins. The tray member 19 can be reinforced if desired by a sheet-metal strip 2| secured to its under surface as by rivets 22, 22 and having downwardly bent marginal flanges 23, 23 for strength.

Secured to each end of the tray member H], as by the riveting shown at 24, is a downwardly projecting pin 25 adapted to be received, preferably with an easy sliding fit, in the upper end of the adjacent pipe I 0.

Secured to the under side of the tray 19, as byv the riveting shown at 2B, 25, is a horizontal rod or pipe 2'! adapted to receive and support coat hangers such as the one shown at 28.

Even though the foot members l3, I l be left assembled with the posts, the assembly, when taken apart, can be stored with the use 'of but very little floor space, as by standing the tray sub-assembly and the two post sub-assemblies in a closet, and as there are only three of the subassemblies the device can be easily and. quickly taken apart and stowed away or brought out and set up for use.

While the tray I9 is shown as r orced by the sheet-metal strip 2|, it is desirable that it have.

nevertheless, slight torsional flexibility, so that each foot assembly l3, 14 can find its own bearing upon the floor of the room in spite of unevenness of the floor or other imperfection of the vertical line of the standards center of gravity, so that the standard has stability in standing alone, and a bridge structure having thereon means telescoping with and seating upon the upper ends of the standards by simple, vertical movement, for removably holding the bridge structure thereon, the bridge structure comprising, as a single handling unit, hat-supporting means and garment-suspending means, and the bridge structure, having simple, telescopic relation to the standards, constituting the only essential connection between them, the connection of standards by the bridge structure being sufiicientlynon-rigid to permit each of the standards to maintain its position of independent stability when the assembly is mounted upon an .appreciablyunevenfioor.

dimensions, and for the same reason, as well as to provide easy assembly and disassembly, it is desirable that there be alittle looseness of the fit of the pins in the pipes 10.

The load-receiving portion of the bar 21 being substantially rigid with the tray and being lower than the points of support of the tray, at the tops of the posts I0, the hanging of coats on the bar increases the stability of the tray and of the assembly as a whole.

For storage in still smaller space, or for shipping, the foot members can be easily removed and laid together flat-wise.

As, illustrated in Fig. 5, each one of the post assemblies can be used as a single-standard hat and coat rack by mounting in its slots 12 at its upper end a "-pair oi sheet-metal stampings 29, 80 formed and assembled in a manner similar to that above described with respect to the root members 18, 14, the stampings 29, being held in the slots l2 by gravity and yet having good stability against the weight of coats and hats hung upon them by reason of the fact that the margins which define the slots 12 have Vertically wide bearing against the .stampi s.

Numerous modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A support for garments and the like comprising a pair of standards each having a foot structure of which floor-engaging areas are widely distant in at least three directions from REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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